


Something Nice

by ThisWorldInverted



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Missy and The Doctor Travelling in the TARDIS, Series 10, Series 10 AU, cheesy as hell, slightly angsty, twissy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-07-18 09:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16115804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisWorldInverted/pseuds/ThisWorldInverted
Summary: It's time for them to become friends again, or perhaps something more...ORTwelve and Missy adventuring through time and space, because IT'S WHAT WE DESERVE.





	1. The Trouble With Hope

**Author's Note:**

> A short note on timeline. This fic is canon divergent from the end of series ten, episode ten, The Eaters of Light. I’m gonna leave the rating at a T for now, but depending on where my muse takes me, that might change later on. Enjoy!

Standing in the dark blue light of the TARDIS console room, Missy wiped the salty tears from her eyes. It was beyond unusual for the Time Lady to feel like this, to feel anything, really. Normally, she had no reservations about being cold and merciless to anyone she encountered. Anyone, that is, save for a certain silver-haired Time Lord. She could sense his presence in the console room before she even turned to look at him. His eyes were focused on her, curious, cautious. “I don’t even know why I’m crying,” she admitted, touching her hand to her forehead. “Why do I keep doing that then?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re trying to impress me,” the Doctor replied, his face expressionless, almost so much so that Missy couldn’t sense the pain there, the hope. But she could feel it, of course she could. There was a bond between them, what had she called it? A friendship older than your civilization, and infinitely more complex, she recalled, thinking back to a conversation long forgotten. 

“Yes, probably some devious plan. That sounds about right.” She wiped away another tear, examining her fingernails as though nothing was wrong. Pretending that was all this was, some wicked facade. Pretending that she wasn’t feeling everything all at once, all of the locked away emotions of thousands of years of being friends and enemies. All those emotions, building up, threatening to break through her fragile mask of indifference.

“Well, the alternative would be much worse.” The Doctor stepped closer to her, his voice never rising above a gentle whisper. 

“Really?”

“The alternative is that this is for real,” he continued, as though he couldn’t bear to entertain that flicker of hope, “and that it’s time for us to become friends again.”

“Do you think so?” Missy asked longingly. “Do you think that I could be good?” She tried to move closer to the Doctor, but he stepped away before she had the chance. Still, he took her hands in his and looked into her eyes, his expression solemn. 

“I don't know. That’s the trouble with hope. It’s hard to resist.”

With that, he let go of her hands and turned to leave, not daring to let her see a glimmer of emotion in his face, fearing still that she would use it against him once again. Missy watched him start to walk away, putting her head in her hands as she continued to let the tears flow. 

“Wait.” She said after a moment, her shaking voice filled with resolve.

The Doctor spun around at the sound of her voice, staring at her from across the room. He looked at her patiently, and Missy almost didn’t see the tears streaming down his face. Almost.

“Teach me.” Missy said, striding across the room until they were once again face to face. “Teach me how to be good.” She took in a sharp breath, trying to regain her composure. It was a fruitless effort though, and her next sentence came out a quiet plea. “Please. I need my friend back.” Her words were an echo of a time when she would have scoffed at the very idea of trying to change. And yet, in that moment, they could not have been more sincere.

And perhaps it was seeing her like this, or perhaps it was the glow of the time router, casting an orange halo over the two of them, the colour taking him back to a time before all this. A time when they would run together, side by side through the fields of Gallifrey, as the second sun would set behind them. Oh, how they ran. Whatever it was, something inside the Doctor broke. Wordlessly, he reached out for Missy, pulling her close to his chest, their four hearts beating together. “Me too,” he whispered, “me too.”

And he cried.

And so did she.

They both cried, for thousands of years of being friends, and thousands more of fighting. For all of the love, and all of the hatred. For all of time and space. 

After an eternity in each other’s arms, an eternity that was a long time coming (even for those who hold dominion over things such as time) they finally pulled away from each other. Missy looked deep into the Doctor’s eyes, searching them for answers. “So, does this mean…”

The Doctor looked back, just as intensely. “I believe that there is good in you. Please, show me I’m right.”

“I will,” Missy swore, placing her hand against her chest, in between her hearts. 

“Travel with me,” the Doctor said, and it’s wasn’t a question.

She nodded. “Anywhere.”

Just like that, the tension was broken, and the Doctor finally, finally smiled. “Well then, I seem to recall we had a pact.”

“Every star in the universe,” she agreed.

The Doctor’s eyes lit up a million shades of blue as he ran over to the TARDIS console, his jacket fanning out to reveal the red silk lining. “So where do you want to start?”

Missy couldn’t help but chuckle at his excitement, although truth be told, she was excited too, unimaginably so. “I’ve always liked liked surprises,” she suggested. 

“So you have.” The Doctor grinned as he fiddled with some dials and switches, before stopping in front of the dematerialization lever. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Missy stepped forward, placing her hand over the lever, hesitant at first. She looked up at the Doctor, who shot her a reassuring smile. Pulling down the lever, she couldn’t fight the grin that spread across her face as the TARDIS came to life. Once they’d landed, the Doctor held an arm out to Missy, and she took it gladly as they walked towards the wooden doors. 

“Come on, Missy.” The Doctor smiled, throwing open the TARDIS door.

“Careful with the doors,” she complained, “I was just working on those.”

The Doctor shook his head with a smile. “Since when do you care?”

“Isn’t that the whole point of this?” she countered. “For me to start caring? Now hush, we’ve got a universe to see.”

“Indeed we do.”


	2. Loose Lips and Spaceships

“Where are we?” Missy asked as the two Timelords stepped out of the TARDIS. They seemed to be standing in a city of some sort, in a desert, but she could tell by the weather and the atmosphere that this was not earth at all.

The Doctor turned to her, a dangerous glint in his eye that always meant trouble. “I don’t know. You wanted a surprise, so I asked the TARDIS to give us one.”

Missy laughed as they started to make their way further into the city. “You and your crazy ideas.”

“Me and my crazy ideas?” the Doctor asked incredulously. “You once became Prime Minister of Britain.” 

“Touche. Although you did get me back for that one, you know,” she reminded him.

“Oh?”

“Yes, Mr. President,” Missy replied in a singsong voice. “Mr. President of the World, that is,” she added.

“Like I told you after you got me an army for my birthday, I’m no president.” He looked at her pointedly.

“Look, we’re both entirely mad, Theta, that’s why we’re friends.” She smiled as she called him by his childhood nickname, happy that she could once again call him a friend. “The difference is, I’m willing to admit that I’m entirely bananas, whereas you aren’t.”

“I am so willing to admit it,” the Doctor shot back, not caring about how immature he sounded, “madman with a box, remember?”

“Yes, dear,” Missy sighed. “I’m assuming you’ve been too busy arguing with me to notice that there’s nobody here?” 

“Wha- oh.” The Doctor looked around again, finally realizing that the city they were in appeared to be entirely abandoned.

“Why would the TARDIS take us to an abandoned city?” Missy grumbled.

“She always has a reason,” he replied, a smile spreading across his face. “I’m guessing there’s trouble.”

“You know I love trouble,” Missy told him with a wicked grin.

The Doctor shot her a warning glance. “Remember Missy, we are here to help with the trouble, not cause it.”

“Sure, sure,” she muttered. 

“I mean it. Swear to me you won’t hurt anyone.”

Missy put her hand to her chest. “I swear.”

“Good. You wanted to learn how to be good, this is it.” The mischievous look returned to his face. “Now let’s go find some trouble.”

The two of them walked down the street, past sandstone houses with orange roofs and no signs of being inhabited. Until they turned the corner, and saw a girl crying. Her fiery hair stood out against the white stone of the building she was sitting against, reminding the Doctor of an old friend. The Doctor felt a pang of longing, and sympathy for the girl.

After shooting Missy a let me handle this look, they slowly walked up to the girl, careful not to startle her. When she heard their footsteps approaching, she sprung to her feet, fear in her eyes as she brandished a pointy stick that Missy very much approved of. “Who are you?” the girl asked shakily. “Are you one of them?” The way her eyes went wide when she said them confirmed the Doctor’s suspicions that something was very wrong indeed.

“I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor explained. “This is Missy. We’re here to help.”

The girl was unconvinced, and didn’t lower her guard as she eyed the Doctor suspiciously. “How do I know you aren’t one of them?”

“One of who?” Missy asked, clearly impatient. “We don’t have all day.”

“Missy,” the Doctor warned.

“The monsters. They took everyone. My mama-” The girl couldn’t finish her sentence before she began sobbing again. Missy had to stop herself from rolling her eyes, or just shooting the girl for her endless blubbering.

“What’s your name?” The Doctor asked softly.

“Veruca,” she managed to say through her tears.

The Doctor looked at the young girl with compassion in his eyes. She couldn’t have been any more than twelve. “We aren’t here to hurt you, I promise. Tell us everything, and we’ll get your mama back. Okay?”

Veruca nodded, sniffling. “Okay.” She started at the beginning, telling them how the planet they were on was called Edonia, and how Edionia had been home to human colonies for thousands of years. Her little city had been there for over a century, when her great-great-grandfather had decided to leave earth and immigrate to Edonia. Six months ago, the monsters came, spaceships descending from the sky. 

They started taking people, first from distant cities, a few at a time so that it almost wasn’t noticeable. But as the months went on, entire villages would disappear. The people who were left went into hiding. Eventually, they got to her city. “My mama, she didn’t make it to the cellar on time. They- they took her.”

Veruca had dropped the stick by this point, and she was once again sitting against the wall, sobbing uncontrollably. “Veruca,” the Doctor asked softly, “did you ever see these monsters? What did they look like?”

“Some of them- some of them were big and green, and had huge black eyes. But some others, they killed us and used our bodies as their own,” she explained, “I think that’s why they took everyone.”

The Doctor turned to look at Missy. “Raxacoricofallapatorians,” they said together.

“What?”

“I think I know what the monsters are, and how we can stop them,” the Doctor explained.

“How are we supposed to stop them?” Missy asked.

The Doctor grinned. “Make sure we’re the ones they take next, of course.”

So, despite many protests from both Veruca and Missy, they waited for night to fall. After dark, Veruca had explained, was when they would come looking. The Doctor got them some food from the TARDIS kitchen, and they waited, ready. An hour after sundown, they saw the lights. 

As the ominous blue glow of the spaceship’s life detector scanned the ground for its next victims, Missy held her breath. She wanted nothing more than to run back to the TARDIS and fly away somewhere fun, after all it wasn’t her responsibility to save the poor little humans. But she knew that she was wrong. It was her responsibility now, to be the Doctor’s friend, to help him save people. His eyes never left her as they sat outside, watching the ships come. Even though he wanted to trust her, he knew she was a flight risk. 

“Life forms detected. Surrender to the legion of the Raxacoricofallapatorians,” a mechanical voice proclaimed from the ship’s speakers. The three of them knew that they had no other choice than to do just that. And as the blue beam of light crossed over them, they were gone from the ground, rematerializing in the spaceship above. 

The aliens on board the ship were mostly in human form, all except the two green blobs piloting the ship and a few standing near the sides of the ship. Guards, probably. “You’d better not get me killed,” Missy hissed at the Doctor as they looked around.

“I’ve got this,” he replied confidently. “What do you lot want with us?” He addressed the alien in front of them who had taken the form of a tall human man. The Doctor knew what they wanted, they wanted to wear their skin as disguises, but he had to talk to buy them some time.

“Your bodies,” the man said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. By this point, Missy was sure that Veruca was on the verge of passing out. At least that would be entertaining, she thought. 

“Where are you taking us?” The Doctor prodded.

The Raxacoricofallapatorian shot him a look. “To our home planet. Now that’s enough out of you,” he said, turning to his comrades. “Get them out of my sight.”

Towering green figures loomed over the three of them, binding their hands behind their backs and dragging them to an empty metal room at the back of the ship, not without Missy kicking one of them in the shins. 

“Missy,” the Doctor chastised as soon as the metal door shut with a bang, “I thought I told you to just go with it.”

“I’m not going to apologize for kicking it,” she shot back, leaning against the wall of the room. 

“Who are you two, anyways? You never told me anything other than your names, and what’s up with that box of yours?” Veruca cut in, confused.

Before the Doctor could offer any sort of explanation, Missy spoke up. “Look, little girl, we’re Timelords, powerful beings that have no reason to be helping you, and yet here we are. That’s all you need to know, now shut up before I explode that pretty little face of yours.”

“Missy!” The Doctor exclaimed. She just shrugged. 

Veruca wasn’t scared though, just baffled by Missy’s words. “What’s a Timelord? And how are you supposed to blow my face up with your hands tied.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve done it before, poor girl. She was so smart,” Missy replied, immediately chastising herself for her words as she saw the sadness in the Doctor’s eyes as he remembered what had happened so long ago. Why was she so stupid? She silently cursed her inability to keep her mouth shut.

Before any of them could speak, the ship came to a screeching halt. “We’re here,” the Doctor announced, a melancholy edge to his voice. “Raxacoricofallapatorius.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, some plot. And some playful banter at the beginning there, because I love it. Hope you loved it just as much. Xoxo, Lily


	3. The Line Between Life, Death, and Love

Once the ship landed, the alien guards came and led the Doctor, Missy, and Veruca out of the ship. Veruca couldn’t help but take in their surroundings in wonder. The sky was a pale shade of purple, and they’d landed in a forest of tall Bartleboigle trees. “Wow,” she whispered, “this place is strange.”

“Indeed it is,” the Doctor agreed, the Raxacoricofallapatorian at his back forcing him to walk faster. They were led to what looked to be the equivalent of an alien prison, and Missy managed not to kill anyone as they were forced inside a cell. The guard unbound their hands, after all, human strength could do nothing against the strange metal bars. They weren’t the only ones there, either. In fact, the prison seemed to be occupied by at least fifty other humans, and there was evidence that many more had been there at one point.

“Mama!” Veruca exclaimed, catching the eye of a lady in the cell beside theirs. She had the same red hair as her daughter.

“Veruca, darling, what happened? How are you here?” Veruca’s mother exclaimed, reaching between the steel bars to take her hand.

“It’s a long story,” the Doctor piped up, stepping up beside Veruca, “but I promise that everything will be okay.” The woman nodded shakily, and with that the Doctor left Veruca to be with her mother, leading Missy over to the corner of the cell. “Alright,” he said, glancing warily at the guards surrounding the room, “the Raxacoricofallapatorians want to kill people for their bodies, but we, and all of these other people are still alive. Any ideas as to why?”

“Think about it, my dear. They want to take our bodies, presumably so that they can hide among human colonies and overthrow the human race.” The Doctor ignored the edge of excitement in Missy’s voice at the thought of the eradication of humans. “Maybe they don’t need any new bodies just yet, so to kill us now, before they need to use us, would be- wasteful.”

The Doctor shuddered slightly. “Lovely. So how do we stop them?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the man who stops the monsters?” Missy grumbled.

“Yes, and you’re supposed to be the woman who helps me do just that. Come on. Imagine you’re trying to overthrow the human race. What would you do? What are the weak points in the plan?” the Doctor prompted.

“Oh, come on Doctor, I’ve tried to overthrow the human race plenty of times, I don’t exactly need to imagine. And the weak point? Well, that’s always been you,” Missy told him with a devious smirk. The Doctor would never admit it, but that smirk made both his hearts skip a beat.

“Well here’s what I’m thinking,” the Doctor said, changing the subject. “The guards must have a shift change, right?” 

“Yeah?”

“So, I say we wait for that to happen, and then you cause some sort of diversion, so that I can slip away and find whoever’s in charge of this,” the Doctor explained.

“Typical man,” Missy sighed, “make the pretty one be the distraction. Don’t deny it. And when you find the one who’s controlling this, what are you gonna do, give a speech and hope you don’t get shot?”

“It usually works,” the Doctor protested, but Missy looked unconvinced. “Please trust me on this. Besides,” he stepped closer to her, his voice low, “you can be quite the distraction when you want to be.”

Missy chuckled. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Theta.”

“I disagree.”

Missy just shook her head, but conceded to the Doctor’s plan. 

Half an hour later, the two Timelords put their plan into action. As the guards started to shuffle out of the room, the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to discreetly unlock their cell after telling Veruca and the rest of the people in their cell to stay put. The Doctor slipped out of the room just as the new set of guards were coming in, and just as they were about to notice him, Missy fell to the ground with a high pitched scream.

The guards walked over to Missy to see what all the commotion was, but the Doctor didn’t stop to see how she reacted. No, he was too busy running. He sprinted through the corridors, doing everything he could to avoid running into any more guards. Finally, after running up flight after flight of stairs and through endless narrow hallways, he came to a dead end. At the end of that hall was a nondescript black door. 

He walked through the door to see a lone Raxacoricofallapatorian sitting at a desk. He must be the one in charge, the Doctor figured. “Intruder!” he exclaimed. “Identify yourself at once!.”

“I’m the Doctor,” he said, a weight to his words that came only with thousands of years of saying them, “and I’m here to stop y-”

The Doctor never got the chance to finish his sentence. While he’d been confronting the head alien, he hadn’t noticed the guards sneaking up on him. He felt something pierce the flesh of his neck, a dart of some sort, and fell to the ground.

Thanks to his superior Timelord biology, the dart, which would keep a human out for an hour at least, had minimal effects on him. The Doctor was unconscious for five minutes, maybe, but that was long enough for them to cuff both his arms and legs to a chair. The Doctor tried to resist the restraints, but there was no getting out of this, not with his sonic on the desk across the room. The Doctor only had one weapon left: he had to talk his way out.

“Why are you doing this?” the Doctor asked, somehow managing to keep calm as he addressed the tall green figure across the room.

“Why do you think? The human race is vast, and nearly endless. They’ve colonized all across the universe. Get rid of them, and the universe is ours. The power is ours,” he explained.

The Doctor sighed. “Power. Of course. Why is it always all about power with you lot? Why do you care so much about conquering the universe? That sounds exhausting, honestly, ruling over everything all the time. And at what cost? How many innocent lives is too many?”

The Raxacoricofallapatorian grinned wickedly, and the Doctor’s hearts were beating out of his chest. He was in trouble. “I don’t know. So why not just one more? Not that you’re so innocent, Doctor. After all, how many lives have been lost because of you?” He clutched a gun in his right hand, raising it to point at the Doctor.

The next few seconds were a blur. Missy, her dramatic timing coming in handy for once, burst through the door just as the alien was about to pull the trigger. In a flash of red light, he vanished, along with the two guards standing beside the Doctor. “I told you this was a bad idea,” Missy said, grabbing the Doctor’s sonic to break him free.

“You’re alright,” he replied, too relieved to be annoyed by her comment. “How did you get out?”

She shrugged, holding up the device in her hand. “Oh, you know, had to kill a few people. Stupid teleport doesn’t work on this planet.”

“Come on, let’s get these people home.”

The Doctor and Missy fought their way out of the prison. The Doctor tried to do his best to only disarm the guards, but Missy showed no such mercy. Just this once, the Doctor let her, after all, it was the difference between life and death. They managed to find a Raxacoricofallapatorian ship that could fit all of the prisoners on it, and got them home safely, thankfully without any more casualties. After saying goodbye to Veruca, the two of them disappeared into the blue police box, and took off into the Vortex.

The moment they were inside the TARDIS, Missy collapsed onto the Doctor’s chair, sighing heavily. “How do you do that all the time, it’s exhausting,” she complained.

“It is, but doesn’t it feel good to know you helped some people?”

“I guess,” Missy replied, but it came out as an unintelligible grumble.

The Doctor smirked. “Sorry, what was that?”

Missy rolled her eyes. “I said, I guess it does feel good. But still.”

He walked over to her with a chuckle. “Thank you, Missy,” he said softly.

“For what?”

“For saving me,” he told her, taking her hand. 

Missy smiled. “Theta, I think it was you who saved me.” With that, she stood up and pressed a kiss to the Doctor’s lips. When she pulled back, her expression was replaced with her usual playful grin. In a way that was just so Missy, she gave him a final wink, and then turned to walk down the hall to her room.

It was in that moment that the Doctor admitted to himself something he’d known for quite some time. This woman would be the death of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I refuse to apologize for that cheesiness at the end, they're just too cute together! Xoxo, Lily


	4. I Have Found What You Are Like

The Doctor let Missy be, messing around in the control room for a few hours and trying not to think too much about her kissing him. After all, this was Missy, and friend or not, she loved nothing more than driving the Doctor mad. And it was working, of course. He also thought of how helpless he’d been in the Raxacoricofallapatorian prison, and how right she had been. Perhaps there were some things that he just couldn’t talk his way out of. But she’d been there. She’d saved him.

The Doctor was still surprised by this, after all, it was Missy who’d always been the one holding the gun to his head, the one he was always trying to escape. Honestly, he’d have been less surprised if she’d bailed entirely, left him there to figure things out on his own. Instead she’d helped him, helped him save so many innocent lives. Perhaps she really has changed, he thought. Or perhaps she was still doing all of this to impress him. Either way, she was truly making an effort to be good. “Maybe I should do something for her, in return,” the Doctor said to himself. He put down his tools and headed towards the TARDIS wardrobe, a smile on his face.

Ten minutes later, he stood outside Missy’s room, dressed in a dark red suit. He knew how much she loved him in red. He knocked three times on her door. “Come in,” Missy called. 

The Doctor opened the door to see Missy sitting cross-legged on her bed, a book in her lap. Upon further inspection, he realized that it was a collection of poems by E. E. Cummings. “I didn’t peg you as the poetry type,” he noted, leaning lazily against the doorframe.

Missy put the book down beside her. “I was just bored. I’m not really, it’s far too sappy and dull for me,” she scoffed dismissively, trying to retain her menacing demeanor. The Doctor didn’t buy it for a second. 

He smiled, clearing his throat. “I have found what you are like. The rain, who feathers frightened fields with the superior dust-of-sleep. Wields easily the pale club of the wind and swirled justly souls of flower strike the air in utterable coolness deeds of green thrilling light with thinned newfragile yellows lurch and press—in the woods which stutter and sing. And the coolness of your smile is stirring of birds between my arms; but I should rather than anything have, almost when hugeness will shut quietly, almost, your kiss.”

“That was beautiful, Theta,” Missy said, and not even the edge of sarcasm in her voice could mask the sincerity there. “Now, why are you here, and dressed like that? Not that I’m complaining,” she added, her eyes scanning him appreciatively. 

The Doctor grinned. “Because, Missy, I thought we should do something fun. Get dressed, we’re going dancing.” Missy got up quickly, and excited smile on her face. “Excited?” he asked.

“Of course. You know how much I love dancing,” she said with a smile. “Where and when are we going, and what should I wear?”

“Nineteen-forties England. Something formal. I’ll see you in the console room in thirty minutes,” the Doctor told her with a grin.

So, thirty minutes later, the Doctor sat in the console room, rocking in his chair as he read the very volume of poetry that had been in Missy’s lap. She had a poetic side to her, a soft, romantic side that she would never admit to. The Doctor had seen it though, the brief moments where her eyes would flicker with something deeper, when she sat at the piano in the vault, wishing on every star in the universe for something greater. She was like ocean waves crashing against the shore; so powerful.

The Doctor looked up from the poetry book to see Missy standing in front of him. “How do I look?” she asked, and the Doctor knew that she was very aware of the effect she had on him. Her dress was floor length and made of black satin, with off-the-shoulder sleeves and a sweetheart neckline that accentuated her curves, something the Doctor couldn’t help but notice. The top of her hair was pinned back, but the rest of it fell around her shoulders in elegant waves. The Doctor didn’t answer, just stared at her for a few moments, before she asked, “What’s wrong, Theta? Dalek got your tongue?”

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “No, uh, Missy, you look beautiful.” 

He could’ve sworn he saw her blush. “You don’t look so bad yourself. Come on, let’s get going.”

“Yes, boss,” the Doctor replied, grinning as he got up. He punched some coordinates into the TARDIS and waited as the ship took them to their destination. Once they’d landed, he reached out his arm to the Time Lady. “Shall we?”

She rolled her eyes, but laughed. It was a warm, melodic sound, one that the Doctor loved so much. Her laughter was rare, at least, her real laughter was. “We shall,” she agreed, linking her arm with his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter’s so short, and that I haven’t posted in literally ages. My laptop wasn’t working, but it seems to be back to normal. Oh, and if you’re wondering about the poem the Doctor says to Missy, it’s called I Have Found What You Are Like by E. E. Cummings. Xoxo, Lily


	5. Acquainted With The Night

The Doctor parked the TARDIS on a street corner in London, right next to the dance club that they were going to. People were coming in and out of the club, younger and older people, a lot of them soldiers. The Doctor led Missy inside, glancing at her with a smile. “Please behave yourself,” he said, “we don’t need to alter the course of history or anything.”

“Oh, you’re so boring, Doctor,” she complained, but agreed.

The two of them walked towards the dance floor, just as the band started up a new song. It was soft, but happy, just as much of the music of that era was, intended to lift people’s spirits. Ever the dramatic, the Doctor bowed slightly before taking Missy’s hand, beginning to lead her around the room.

Though the Doctor never liked to brag about it, he really was quite good at dancing. He and Missy got lost in the music as he lead her around the room in an elegant foxtrot, the two of them anticipating every move of the other’s body, every beat of the other’s heart. It was almost as though they were made to dance together, and by the time the song was over, they couldn’t suppress their smiles. “Nice job, Theta,” Missy said with a smirk.

“You too, Koschei.” It was the first time in so long that the Doctor had used that nickname, and the soft way in which he said it threatened to make Missy’s hearts melt as they continued to dance. They danced to three more songs before the Doctor suggested they take a break for some refreshments.

A waiter was walking around with a tray of assorted drinks, so the Doctor took two flutes of champagne as he and Missy sat down at a table near the side of the enormous room. Missy sipped her champagne, a thoughtful look on her face. “I’ve always liked the forties. Classy, fun, and I love a good war.”

“Missy,” the Doctor scolded her.

“I’m just saying,” she shrugged.

“Hey Missy?” the Doctor asked.

“Hmm?”

“Have you got any more poetry in that beautiful mind of yours?” The Doctor didn’t know where the words had come from, but he didn’t dare try and take them back.

Missy looked at him for a moment with a crooked smile. “Maybe.” 

“Do tell.”

She took a deep breath. “I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light. I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat, and dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet, when far away an interrupted cry came over houses from another street, but not to call me back or say good-by; And further still at an unearthly height, one luminary clock against the sky proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night.” The Doctor could feel the rhythm in Missy’s voice as she recited the poem. It was one of his favourites, truly.

“Robert Frost, huh? I’m impressed.” The Doctor smiled at her, admiration in his gaze.

“Impressed implies surprise,” Missy accused. 

“Well, darling, you never fail to surprise me.” He smiled, calling to memory another work of another famous poet, one that reminded him of her. “It is at moments after I have dreamed of the rare entertainment of your eyes, when (being fool to fancy) I have deemed with your peculiar mouth my heart made wise; at moments when the glassy darkness holds the genuine apparition of your smile (it was through tears always) and silence moulds such strangeness as was mine a little while; moments when my once more illustrious arms are filled with fascination, when my breast wears the intolerant brightness of your charms: One pierced moment whiter than the rest—turning from the tremendous lie of sleep, I watch the roses of the day grow deep.”

When the Doctor finished speaking, Missy’s expression was a mixture of a few things: surprise, joy, something akin to infatuation… He, however, did not notice that, because it was at that very moment that he noticed a vaguely familiar man sitting at the table next to theirs, glancing over at them. Or, more particularly, at Missy. She hadn’t seemed to notice.

The Doctor knew that Missy could handle herself just fine, but that didn’t stop a flare of protectiveness—and jealousy—from shooting through him. “Darling, would you like to dance again?” he asked pointedly.

As he lead her onto the dance floor, Missy finally realized what was happening. “Oh, Doctor, are you jealous?” she teased.

“Not in the slightest.” Okay, that might have been a lie. “But God knows how you can get. I just don’t want you to do anything irrational.” That part, at least, was true.

Clearly the man hadn’t gotten the hint though, because just as the song came to an end, he approached the pair, asking to cut in. Not wanting to be rude or cause a scene, the Doctor gave a curt nod before stepping back, staying in earshot so that he could hear their conversation.

“Good evening, m’lady,” the man said politely.

\ “To you as well,” Missy replied.

The man spun Missy around gracefully as they continued to talk. “I’m Ianto. What’s your name?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ianto,” she replied, “I’m Missy.”

Ianto. Where had the Doctor heard that name before. After a moment, he remembered, but it was a moment too long.

“I wish I could say the same,” Ianto said, “and I’m afraid that isn’t entirely true, Master.”

The Doctor didn’t have time to think, just grabbing Missy’s hand and making a run for it to where the TARDIS was parked outside. He certainly didn’t expect to see none other than Captain Jack Harkness standing in front of it, Gwen Cooper by his side, but then again, he probably wasn’t expecting to see the Doctor and the Master running to the TARDIS, hand in hand.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Jack asked, just as Ianto caught up to them.

The Doctor shot him a look. “I was wondering the same, Harkness. It’s good to see you. Tea, anyone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I disappeared off the face of the earth for like six months. Oops? I wasn't going to come back to this, but here we are.   
> Xoxo,   
> Lily


End file.
